Indeed, if nearly five thousand Sand Shinobi charged in, then collapsed after entering the Land of Fire, the damage caused by several thousand scattered rogue ninja would likely be greater than that of an organized ninja army. That was why Konoha had no choice but to meet them in battle.
Of course, if a decisive battle truly broke out, the Sand Shinobi would not have it easy either. The environment of the Land of Rain naturally restrained the Sand Manipulation Technique, meaning the Sand Shinobi had inherently lost the advantage of terrain. Moreover, decisive battles between ninja villages often involved thousands of people chaotically slaughtering one another across a front stretching hundreds of kilometers. At most, they could maintain squad-level formations. Without special methods, even commanders could not direct their forces under such circumstances.
And the fragility of ninja was exposed without question in such melees. Even a Jōnin could end up dying to a Kunai thrown from some unknown direction.
Thus, a single decisive battle could often wipe out the formations of more than a dozen, even dozens of regiments. Losing two or three thousand men in a battle involving five thousand was perfectly normal. If he had not been forced into it, Ebizo did not actually want to risk everything like this.
But now, they had no choice but to risk everything!
As it happened, just as the Sand Shinobi made their decision, the people in Konoha camp, under Tsunade's chest-thumping guarantee, made the same decision to fight a decisive battle.
"Don't worry! In this decisive battle, I, Princess Tsunade, will show you just how terrifying medical ninja can be!"
At Konoha camp's mobilization rally, Tsunade stood atop the raised platform, her golden hair dazzling and her face radiant as she boldly proclaimed her ambition with a smile.